Please Keep My Secret
by Kiaira
Summary: After an Akuma battle, while returning to her class, Marinette accidentally stumbles upon Chat Noir, mid-untransforming, revealing his identity to her. Adrien has just had his secret revealed to his shy classmate. Now he's on a mission to make sure she won't ever reveal his secret.
1. His Secret

A/N: Yeah...I wasn't away for very long was I? I got writers block for my childrens novel, and I still needed my word cound for National Novel Writers Month...so I wrote this up. This is based on an old one-shot I wrote called Cats out of the Bag. Which didn't work out the way I wanted it too. I wanted it to be funnier. And while this chapter will probably come across as a little heavy, the next chapters will be funny. I promise.

Please Keep My Secret

Chapter 1

Marinette didn't mean to witness him untransform that day, and if she realized she would have seen him she would have gone in the opposite direction. Of course, she had all the rotten luck in the whole, she just had to run into him that day! Ladybug and Chat Noir separated after an Akuma battle during a school trip to the Musee De L'Orangerie that had been the driving force behind what happened.

A custodian falsely accused of a crime, and after battle filled with dirty mop water, Marinette ran for a place to untransform without being spotted and found one alleyway where she changed back but during the search for her classmates who fled in the attack that caused so much issue. When Marinette cut through the alleyway to get back to the courtyard, where the school tour was attacked; when she froze in her tracks by who she saw trying to hide by the dumpster.

Her eyes widened and her mouth hung open as she stared at Chat Noir, standing there. He noticed her and their eyes met. His mirrored the panic in hers, and he turned to run. The moment she looked at him, she realized this was the moment he would untransform. She wanted to turn her back to him so she couldn't discover his identity, something she positively didn't need to see, but there a swirl of black and green around his body, and it left a blonde boy standing in the middle of the alleyway in front of her, his eyes wide and he still stared at her. Floating beside him, a tiny black cat-like creature, who looked like a Kwami.

"A-Adrien?" she gasped.

His stunned expressed also echoed hers and he stared at her like Marinette was a monster from one of his games. No one would deny what she had just witnessed. Adrien Agreste had just untransformed from Chat Noir. Adrien Agreste was Chat Noir.

He shifted, and she knew he was trying to search for his words because she was trying to search for words. Her mouth was open, but words weren't forming and nothing was coming out. She felt like a fish with her mouth opening and closing, but still, no sound was coming out.

"Marinette! Adrien!" Their attention drew away when they heard Alya's voice from across the other side of the alley. Both turned, and the Kwami disappeared inside Adrien's jacket.

Alya ran down the alleyway and met them. "I'm glad you guys are okay! Did you get hit with that thing's dirty bucket water? My backpack completely soaked!"

"N-n-no!" Marinette stumbled. "Not me. I avoided his attacks."

Alya looked Adrien up and down. "Looks like you managed to avoid it too. Lucky, everyone else got soaked."

Adrien looked back at Marinette and her cheeks flushed. She had only a second to process anymore because Alya met Marinette and put her arm around her. "Catching some alone time with Adrien are you?"

"N-n-n-nooo," Marinette repeated. " We were both just heading back to the courtyard and met up. That's all."

Adrien looked like he would be sick, and she imagined Adrien felt terrified that she would tell Alya Chat Noir's identity. If she ever found out, it would be on the internet in seconds. Marinette would never do that to her partner. Marinette didn't even want to know his identity because she didn't want him to know Ladybugs true self. There wouldn't be any relief knowing Chat Noir, her flirty partner, is Adrien. That wasn't the guy she saw at school every day, and that wasn't the boy she was madly in love with.

Alya was rushing her into the courtyard where she saw her classmates and some other folks gathering after the Akuma attack. Marinette sensed Adrian close behind, but she could not bring herself to even look back at him. Alya took a seat on a bench and Marinette took a seat next to her. She placed a hand on her bag and Tikki moved around a little inside. Her heart rate quickened, and it got worse when Adrien passed by and didn't even glance at her. Then she let it sink into her chest. She wanted to throw up. She looked at Alya who was chatting away about the footage she had from the battle earlier and how she would present it to her blog tonight. Marinette couldn't speak though. She held back a sigh and pretended that she was listening to her friend.

The class was dismissed and Marinette went home. She collapsed onto her bed before she drew herself into a fetal position, holding her limbs close to her, protecting herself from an invisible pain. Though it still peaked through into her chest. A pain in her chest as it tightened up. She opened her eyes and looked at Tikki who had freed herself from Marinette's purse and was sitting on the bed by Marinette's face.

"Marinette? Are you all right?" the tiny Kwami asked. "I thought you would be happy to find out that Adrien was Chat Noir."

"I don't know Tikki," she explained. "I thought I would be too, but it doesn't feel right. Chat Noir and Adrien are...so different. Adrien is a little goofy at school, but he's very serious. Chat Noir doesn't take things nearly as seriously as he should and would flirt and make jokes all day."

Tikki giggled. "Flirttttt? Marinette, that means Adrien's been flirting with you!"

Marinette shook her head. "No, that means he's been flirting with Ladybug, not me. That's exactly why I didn't want to reveal myself to Chat Noir or him to me." She covered her face, and she shook it in frustration. "Ladybug is so different from who I am. Adrien looked terrified and he avoided me the rest of the day. He couldn't even look at me! Because it's me! He doesn't like Marinette! He likes... _her_!"

"Marinette, you're overreacting," Tikki stated. "If I remember correctly, Chat Noir flirted with you too, as yourself Marinette."

Marinette remembered, and how she mocked him teasingly behind his back that day. He gave her the nickname Princess, and he bragged about how he would save the day. She heard every word that would come out of his mouth before he said it. It was only because she had familiarized herself with Chat Noir. They had been fighting beside each other for so long. She guessed she didn't know him as well as she originally thought, after all that last person she would have suspected of being her partner was, Adrien Agreste.

Her eyes stopped on the pull-down chart she made that tracked Adrien's schedule and the pain in her chest worsened because she realized she had been wrong about Adrien. Marinette thought she knew everything about him because of her obsessive crush. She covered her face with her hands she realized it wasn't true, and she didn't know anything about him at all.

8 8 8

Adrien was in a panic and had he had been the moment his classmate, Marinette had seen him. He wanted to run away, but that wouldn't fix this problem. So when he got home and went to his bedroom he felt the full weight of his situation fall over him. Plagg flew from Adrien's jacket and was already looking for his afternoon snack. Plagg didn't seem the least bit concerned.

"Aren't you worried?" Adrien asked. "Even just a little."

Plagg shrugged his shoulders. "It's not the first time it's happened. It was bound to happen sooner than later."

"But what if Marinette tells everyone?" Adrien stated. "I need to know she won't tell anyone, especially Alya. If she finds out, I'm sunk."

Plagg found his cheese and munched on it and still didn't seem the least bit worried. Adrien felt awful and like he should crawl into a hole. He turned to his computer and jumped on and searched through his usual browser tabs. There was the Ladyblog. He refreshed it twice and presently the only new post was that of Ladybug fighting the Akuma from earlier, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Adrien clicked on his social media and gave a quick search of his classmates. Only talk of the school trip and the Akuma. He sighed when he searched for Marinette and saw no new updates. She uploaded some photos of a spring dress she was working on and the posts were over a week old.

He was so worried that she would reveal him, and so he knew he had to take action before it was too late. He clicked on the private message button and typed out a message to send her.

 _Marinette, We really need to talk about what happened earlier today. I'll be on your balcony on your roof at 9pm, just after it gets dark. Please tell no one._

He sent the message and now stared at the screen waiting for her reply. The three dots showed up showing that she was typing a reply, but she took another few minutes to sent back a reply.

 _All right, I'll see you then._

He felt only some relief when he read the message from her. He still had to talk to her, which would be the real challenge. She was such a quiet girl, and she didn't seem to like him that much. She was talkative to everyone except him. He shook his had as he covered half his face with his hand. He prayed this evening would just be over with already.

A/N: Just a short little introduction to the story. :3 I hope it has sparked your interest. Until next time!


	2. Burden

A/N: Well this came out faster than I expected. I got a lot of work done in the last 48 hours or so, so I was able to pop this out. I'm going to try and only post once a week though. I work retail and its the Christmas Season, so we're going to be very busy. Enjoy everyone!

Please Keep My Secret

Chapter 2

Marinette, We really need to talk about what happened earlier today. I'll be on your balcony on your roof at 9pm, just after it gets dark. Please tell no one.

That was the private message got from Adrien after school. Her heart raced in her chest when she realized that he wanted to talk to her about what happened. Marinette's heart beat against her chest at a speed that would break the sound barrier, and it only got worse when Tikki zoomed around and giggled. "Marinette! This is your chance! You can really get to talk to Adrien!"

"I'm going to throw up," Marinette explained. Her stomach jumped up into her throat now and she had to hold in its contents. She desired nothing more than to run away. Marinette tossed her phone on her bed and paced around her bedroom, having a mild freak out.

"Marinette, it's Chat Noir. It's Adrien. Have either one of them ever shown themselves to be bad people?" Tikki asked.

Marinette stopped pacing long enough to ponder about what Tikki asked her. She shook her head. "Well...no. Adrien's always been a sweetheart. And Chat...well he's a huge goofball, but he's reliable and he's great too."

Tikki zoomed over to Marinette. "Exactly. They are the same person and neither would do whatever your brain is telling you they would. Imagine how he must felt, Marinette."

She realized that Tikki knew what she was talking about and Adrien would be frightened. His secret was out, and there would be no one he could turn too. And she knew he didn't contact Ladybug yet, so he hadn't turned to anybody yet. He surely was freaking out on his end, and that broke her heart. She didn't want him to believe his identity wasn't safe with her. If anything her finding out was the ideal person to discover it if someone had to discover it.

Tikki smiled, realizing that Marinette was getting what she was trying to tell her and floated over to the bed and lifted Marinette's heavy cellphone. "Now, come on, give him an answer. He's waiting."

Marinette's chest was pounding in her chest and she was at a loss of words to say to him, but she felt awful when she imagined him so worried and concerned that she would tell everyone his secret. She had to assure him she would never break his trust. She took the phone from Tikki, who sighed with relief as she was free from the heavy cellphone. Marinette looked at the phone and read his message over a few times, her heart was still pounding in her chest. 

_All right, I'll see you then._

She sent him the message, her heart still racing as she tried to calm herself down and remember that Adrien had to upset on his end, and she had to face this for his sake. She tried to put on a brave face, but as soon as she saw that her message had been read by him, she dropped her phone and a squeak escaped her mouth. Tikki floated over to her and was giggling. She patted Marinette on the head. "I'm proud of you Marinette. You need to assure him his secret is safe with you. Maybe you should tell him you're Ladybug too. That will assure him."

"NOPE!" Marinette cried. "Not happening!"

Tikki frowned. "But why not?"

"Because Adrien likes Ladybug, I am so far from being her. I'm clumsy! So clumsy and I can't hold down a conversation with him. He would be so disappointed," she explained. "As Ladybug, I am SO DIFFERENT!"

"That's because you're showing your confidence as Ladybug. You can do that too. I've seen you at school. When you ran for class rep, you showed so much confidence and you got the votes. I'm sure Adrien noticed that," Tikki explained. "You just need to learn to be that person, without your mask. I know you can, Marinette."

She shook her head. "No, it's different. When I transform, I feel like a different person. I'm not nearly as clever as she is."

Tikki was getting annoyed now and zoomed in front of Marinette. "Marinette, the Miraculous changes no one's personality. Sure it gives you some power and abilities you don't have with it, but personality and brains are not one of my powers! That's all you Marinette! Remember when Anti-Bug was after Chat? You used your cell phone to distract her. You saved Chat Noir on your own. That is why you Master Fu chose you. You're kind personality and your own personal strengths!"

Marinette fell to her knee's and looked up at Tikki. Tikki noted that Marinette was taking in what she was telling her, and she was still processing it, which satisfied her for the moment. It took several minutes for Marinette to look up at Tikki. "I still can't tell him. Not yet."

While Tikki didn't agree she still nodded. "As long as you tell him eventually. For now, just focus on assuring him his secret is safe with you. I'm sure Adrien would appreciate it."

Marinette nodded. "I'll tell him when I'm ready. But tonight, I'll do what I can to assure him I won't tell hi

Tikki smiled. "Then think about what you will say to him tonight. It has to be perfect." Tikki looked at the clock, seeing it was almost dinner time. "You have a few hours. Why don't you go help your mom with dinner?"

Marinette nodded and climbed to her feet. "I'm sure she will."

Marinette thanked Tikki and disappeared down her trapdoor to the kitchen.

After dinner, Marinette chatted with her parents about school, and when they asked about the attack they watched on the news, she made excuses like she had before. She hid, and the Akuma came nowhere near her. She didn't get hurt, and she was safe. Her parents seemed to accept that, and she returned to her room after. When we in there, she looked at the time on her phone and realized it was eight-thirty and she had half an hour to figure everything out. She tried to take in some deep breaths, but Marinette was having a complete freak out on her end. She wanted to run away. No matter how hard she tried to breathe her nerves just wouldn't calm down. Tikki left her alone mostly, but she gave Marinette a comforting smile whenever their eyes met.

When Marinette looked at the time again, she saw she now only had fifteen minutes. She took in another deep breath and breathed out of her nose. She reached over for a blanket wrap she had and looked at Tikki. "I'm going to go outside now."

Tikki nodded. "I'll keep low. Unless you change your mind and decide to tell him. You can call me and I'll come out for you."

Marinette smiled. "Thank you Tikki, you're always there for me."

Marinette turned her back to Tikki and climbed out onto her balcony. She closed her window behind her. She shivered as the cold night air hit her. It was still early spring meant the nights were still cold and tonight the air had an extra bit of dampness to it. Marinette wrapped her blanket around her and took a seat in one of her chairs. Marinette looked out over the cityscape, trying to spot Chat Noir approaching. There was nothing for a while, but then she took notice a black shape coming toward her. Jumping to her she waved when he approached. He did not wave back, but he landed.

"H-hi," she greeted.

"Yeah...hi, Marinette," he greeted.

"It's rather cold out, isn't it?" she stated.

She could see his breath as he breathed out, and he nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's pretty cold tonight."

"I could get you a blanket if you need it," Marinette offered. Though her words came out jumbled and quickly. She judged from the expression on his face, she knew that he could tell how nervous she was. He shook his head though.

"I'm fine, thanks for the offer though," he said. "I have..I need to be certain you're not going to tell anyone."

His words were to the point, and Marinette realized how serious his words were. A tightness in her chest came over her and she bit her bottom lip as she looked away. "I'm not going to tell anyone."

"What if I can't take your word for it," he said. "I mean, you don't like me very much."

Her eyes widened. "Adrien, no it's not true!"

His eyes also widened when he heard her response. "But you clearly have never liked me. You have seemed to hate me from the moment we started going to school together. You believed I put the gum on your seat when it was Chloe, not me."

Her cheeks burning, but the cold air made her pale skin flushed, so he wouldn't notice. "I-I... know it wasn't you. You explained everything to me, and I realized the truth that day."

She no longer could stand to look at him and glanced away and looked over the city instead. He still had more to say though. "But you never talk to me. Whenever I try to talk to you...you shut me out or run away. Marinette, you communicate to everyone else in the class, even talk with Chloe more than you do with me. So, you must hate me."

She hated the idea he believed that about her and she her emotions were now trying to take over. The knowledge he speculated she hated him hurt her a lot and brought her a pain in her chest. She looked over at Adrien and shook her head. "You're... different from the others."

"Different?" he asked. "How can I be different?"

Her cheeks were as red as her Ladybug costume and she wished she had the option to run away from him like she always did. She didn't want to answer his question. She wanted him to simply realize his secret was safe with her. "A-Adrien, I can't explain. I need you to realize that I will tell no one. Especially Alya. She will never know."

"I'm in a very tough situation here," Adrien explained. "I can't just accept this. You have to understand that. If my identity got out, my whole family would be put in danger. Our classmates, anyone I'm close friends with."

"I understand Adrien, I really do. Please believe me. You're secret is safe!"

He was right in front of her now, having moved closer her as their discussion turned heated. Both were becoming angry at the other, but Marinette could sense the dread he was feeling. She needed him to believe her, but he just in a panic and it upset her to see him like this. "Marinette, please, you need to tell me. I need to know why I can trust you. You seem so sweet and our classmates speak very fondly of you. You practically ignore me most of the time. Why am I different?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. It broke her heart. And she knew she had to tell him something. The only thing that was popping into her head was confessing her feelings, but that was far too much for her to handle. She wasn't ready. Marinette didn't know if she would ever be ready. The pain in his eyes hurt her so much, and she recognized the sting of tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "A-Adrien. I won't... I won't t-tell bec-cause..."

His attention was away from her as he looked up at the sky above. She drew her cause up, worried that it was an approaching Akuma, but she realized what it was. An icy cold raindrop hit her cheek. She flinched and looked down at the roof, watching as the drops hit the surface. It only took seconds for it to beat down in sheets. She turned around and looked at her window, the entrance to her bedroom. "Come on, come inside!"

"I have to go before it gets too bad," he interjected.

She shook her head. "You'll freeze. I have a jacket inside I made. It's warm and waterproof. Please come inside and get it." She could tell he was wavering, and Marinette's blanket and her clothes were already soaked through, and she was freezing. His blond hair was sticking to his head, and he had begun to shiver. Concern filled her, and she felt the need to reach for him, and she took hold of him by the wrist. "Come dry off, get the jacket and head home. You'll get sick otherwise."

He still looked unsure, but she tugged on him and brought him over to the window. She knelt down and opened the window. She motioned for him to get inside. He looked at her. She was dripping wet and she shivering. "Marinette, you're soaked," he gasped. "I'm fine like this, get inside."

"Not until you're inside," she stated.

She could tell his resolve crumbled, and he jumped inside quickly. He turned back and looked up at her. He reached his hand out to her. "Now come inside."

Marinette took his hand, and he helped her inside. Once inside, she removed the now heavy blanket wrap and tossed it aside for now and climbed down from her bed and searched for a towel to hand him. Locating a clean crisp one and turned back to hand it to him to dry off, but she stopped in her tracks when she noticed him looking around her room. More specifically her walls, and the pictures that littered her walls. Her eyes went wide and her entire body froze. The concern she had for his well being had pushed the thought of him seeing anything embarrassing in her room, and now he was looking at the dozens of pictures she had of him on her walls. Many with little hearts drawn on them. She had no doubt he was piecing everything together. Marinette had never wished for the power of invisibility more than she did right at this moment. His turned his attention to her and their eyes met. Even now she could tell how red his cheeks were, not from the outside cold, but from what he noticed inside her room.

Marinette broke eye contact but she approached him and handed him the towel from just below the railing by her bed. He reached for it and she turned her back to him. Her cheeks burning and her desire to disappear into the floor were still there. "Marinette, I'm sorry I didn't realize."

She felt her cheeks still burning and she couldn't face him. She walked over to her closet and pulled out the jacket she had been searching for. She didn't know what she could say to him. She couldn't even look at him. "Its not important. I know how you feel about Ladybug. Everybody does." She approached the railing again and passed up the jacket. "This will keep you warm and dry."

"Marinette, don't say that," Adrien stated as he tried to reach down to her and get her attention, but she had already placed the jacket on the railing and turned her back to him. She had gone to get another towel and dry off. She was already using it to dry off when he picked up the jacket. "Marinette, I better go. I'll return the jacket at school tomorrow, okay?"

Now she turned back to him and shook her head. "N-no, you better not. Alya...she knows about...she knows about how I feel...if she saw you return a jacket to me, she would get suspicious."

He looked sad, but he nodded. He put the jacket on, and buttoned it up. He still looked at her. "T-thanks, Marinette."

She could only nod. And he disappeared outside. That left Marinette alone, stilling anything abut relieved about the situation.

While outside, Adrien stood still in the rain for a moment. He could only hear the sound of the rain hitting his jacket and the tin roof's nearby. He looked down at his feet, feeling horrible about what had just happened. Marinette couldn't even look at him and he knew that she didn't intend for him to see the photos or for him to clue in about her crush. How could he be so wrong about his classmates feelings? She even passed her feelings off as nothing in front of him, when he could tell that it hurt her to say such a thing about her affection for him. And now she was burdened with his secret. He glanced over his shoulder and at the window. He could see her sitting on her bed, still in her wet clothes and could see her shoulders shaking. He could tell, she was crying. He had to force himself to look away. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't mean to become a burden to you."

A/N: So Adrien knows about Marinette's crush. Marinette feels awful about how things are turning out, and I am exhausted. Sometimes these two are hard to write about. I will see you guys next time!


	3. The Scarf

A/N: This took longer than I expected. I hope you enjoy.

Please Keep My Secret

Chapter 3

Adrien's heart pounded in his chest as his driver drove up to the school entrance the next morning. The freezing rain turned everything to solid ice overnight as the temperatures dropped, and so his driver took longer than usual to get Adrien to school. He could feel a chill in the air that morning and his fall jacket was no longer suitable for the weather. The weather fell below freezing and didn't have time to retrieve his winter jacket, making a mental reminder to take it out of storage when he got home. Adrien thought about grabbing the jacket Marinette lent him, but he remembered her plead from last night, and so he didn't take it. Adrien's car drove up to the front of the school and his driver exited first, going around to Adrien's door to let him out.

He climbed out and saw Nino still at the front, sitting by the stairs, waiting for Adrien to arrive at school. Nino greeted him with their secret handshake, and it calmed Adrien down a little, but a tightness in his chest had continued to be present. Nino didn't notice how on edge Adrien was and he greeted him like he would any other morning.

"Some rain last night, huh?" Nino stated. "I actually got caught in it, I was soaked, man!"

"Yeah, I got caught in it too," Adrien answered. "Not for long, I got home pretty quick." 

"Photoshoot for your dad's winter line?" Nino asked.

Adrien nodded, used to having to keep secrets from his best friend. "We cut it short after the rain started."

Though the photo shoot part wasn't true, Adrien told the truth to some extent. He did have to cut what he was doing short. His chat with Marinette didn't go nearly as long as he would have hoped and after discovering her crush on him, he wasn't keen on staying too long in such an awkward situation.

"That sounds unpleasant," Nino stated.

"Yeah, it wasn't," Adrien replied. He cast his eyes down in shame as he took in the memory of the evening before and how they had interacted with each other. She didn't seem comfortable, and he knew for a fact he didn't. And worse still, he knew she had caught onto the fact he was uncomfortable around her. That wouldn't have gotten him any votes either.

"But, hey! Today is Thursday, it's almost the weekend. And we're still on for Saturday, right?" Nino asked.

Adrien looked up at Nino and nodded, forcing the most natural smile he could, a talent he learned from years of modeling for his dad's designs. "Yeah, Saturday is still ago, but I won't be able to do any sleepover or all-nighter. My dad booked a photographer for Sunday morning."

"Well, its better than nothing," Nino explained.

Adrien and Nino made it to the door of their classroom where he looked and around Marinette and Alya talking to each other. Well, it was Alya talking, with Marinette speaking every few seconds, but seemed to nod her head. Nino took a seat and turned to the side to look at Alya. "Hey, what's up?"

"Not much," Alya answered. "I telling Marinette about some rumors going around about Chat Noir. It seems that he was spotted around last night, wearing a jacket as he was raining. I assume patrolling or something."

Marinette seemed to react but just nodded along. Adrien's heart was beating against his rib cage as he listened to Alya talk about the rumor. He hoped she had no photos. If Alya was as sharp as he thought she was, she'd know it was Marinette's jacket with just a glance.

"Really?!" Nino exclaimed. "It was miserable out last night! I bet he got soaked!"

As if on cue, Marinette sneezed, and the three's attention drew to her. Her cheeks went red, and she looked down at her lap. "Excuse me."

"Geez, Marinette, did you get caught outside too?" Nino asked.

She nodded, "Just for a few minutes."

She sneezed again, turned away to avoid spreading any sickness she may be carrying. Adrien looked at her with concern, remember her soaked body on the roof the night before. She had refused to go inside until he came inside to get her jacket, and now she had caught a cold.

"Do you need to lay down?" Alya asked. "I could take you home."

Marinette waved it off, "No, really, I'm all right."

"Well, if you're still sneezing by lunch, I'm gonna insist you stay home and rest," Alya stated.

"I'll be fine, I know my limits," Marinette assured her friend.

Adrien noticed how hard she tried to not glance at him. She hadn't even glanced at him, and she looked at Nino infrequently because he assumed that would get him in her eye line. The tightness in his chest tightened, and he felt awful thinking about her actively avoiding him like this. He believed she was going to actively pretend he wasn't around like she said. If Alya was around, she would keep her interactions with him to the minimum.

He continued to listen to the conversation, between Alya and Nino at this point, until the teacher addressed them and the bell rang, signalling the start of class.

It wasn't until lunch time when he looked behind him at Marinette. And she had disappeared with Alya as soon as the bell rung. Adrien had a lunch made for him so he could stay at the school and possibly sit and talk to Marinette in private, but that didn't seem possible. Nino drew his attention. "Is your driver picking you up?"

"Oh? No, actually, I had a lunch packed today," Adrien explained.

"Whoa! Really dude? So like, we can hang during lunch today?"

Again, Adrien had planned to talk to Marinette, and that was no longer possible, so he smiled at Nino. "Of course."

Nino took out his paper lunch bag and took out his lunch. Adrien did the same with his. Only his had been packed in a fancy bento style box. Stylish, by his father's insistence. Only the best for an Agreste after all. He didn't feel much like eating, but he needed to keep his strength up in case of an Akuma attack. He really wanted to talk to Marinette again, to finish up their talk about his secret identity. Though he was with his best friend, and he was dating Alya. Perhaps he'd have some insight into a girls mind that Adrien had no clue about.

"Hey man, I have a question for you?"

"About what?"

Adrien tried to find his words. "Well... girl stuff, I have a girl issue."

"Girl stuff? What kind of girl stuff?" Nino asked.

"Well, I found out someone I know has a huge crush on me," Adrien said.

Nino chuckled. "Man, most of the girls in our class have a crush on you."

Adrien sighed. "I get a lot of fan letters, that's for sure, but this is different."

Nino was eating his baguette sandwich, and talked a little with food in his mouth, his eyes wide. "How so?"

"Well, this girl...she knows something about me that no one else knows. Something I can't tell anyone else," Adrien explained. "I talked to her about it for a short time, and it came out that she really, really likes me."

"Knows something about you...and you can't tell anyone else...that sounds like a deep secret, bro," Nino gasped. "She is like...blackmailing you or something?"

"N-no...nothing like that," Adrien said. "She just, well, she says she will not tell anyone, but I need to know for sure, like really for sure she isn't going to tell anyone."

Nino's expression was serious as he looked at Adrien and thought to himself. "Why don't you take her out on a date. Or do something really nice for her?"

"A-A date?" Adrien gasped. "I've never been on a date...and, I want my first date to be with someone...well..."

"Someone you actually like," Nino explained.

"Exactly!" Adrien explained. "I mean, there is nothing wrong with this girl. She's very nice, and I think highly of her, but I like someone else."

"Yeah, I figured you did," Nino expressed. "Well, if a date is out of the question, just do something nice for her."

"What can I do?" Adrien questioned. "I don't want to become too pushy or make her think I'm just being her friend because of my secret."

Nino became lost in thought trying to figure something out, and he was thinking just as hard. Marinette easily had to be the sweetest girl in class, and most of the class seemed to like her. He thought he knew her well enough, but she was surprising him with all this new information. After all, he thought that Marinette hated him, and it turned out to be the opposite. She could be stubborn as was evident by her actions the night before with the jacket. She had gotten soaked and was now sneezing with a cold. Guilt filled him, but the need to find the answer he needed now only grew.

He could find no answer, and the longer Nino thought to himself, the more he realized Nino had no answers either. It wasn't an everyday situation after all. And so his thoughts came back to the jacket. Her blue eyes stared at him in the rain. They were so determined and even as the freezing rain dripped down her face, those eyes didn't weaver. Remembering it brought chills to his spine. He had only seen Ladybug look so determined before in Akuma situations.

The memory only made him more determined to make sure that Marinette got her jacket back from him. She wouldn't accept it from him today at school, but she said nothing about after school, or returning it in a cat costume.

8 8 8

Marinette was completely panicking as her best friend, Alya stared her down. It was after class now, and Marinette had just been trying to pack up her books, but her friend was having none of it.

"You've been acting funny all day," Alya stated. "You need to either come clean or stop worrying me."

Marinette didn't dare open her mouth about what was on her mind and instead tried to brush it aside. "Alya, really, I'm all right."

Her best friend, Alya wasn't convinced, and she regretted everything instantly. Alya was standing even closer to Marinette than she was before and was staring her down. Marinette tried to look away, but Alya had her by the shoulders and continued to give her a concerned stare. "You are not all right. Something is bothering you. Did Chloe say something or post something about you again?"

Marinette's eyes went wide, and she shook her head. "N-No, not at all."

"Good, because I will not tolerate such behavior from her," Alya stated. She turned back to look at Marinette. "So, what's bothering you then?"

Marinette had finished putting her jacket on and shook her head. "Please, Alya, I am all right. Nothing is bothering me. I am fine."

"No girl says fine and means 'I'm doing well.'" Alya stated.

"I am doing well," Marinette answered. "If something were bothering me, you would be the first person I told."

Alya still wasn't convinced and Marinette knew it, but still Alya seemed to respect her enough to back off. She shrugged. "All right. But if you need to talk, you can always talk to me."

The girls left the classroom and with a final farewell, Marinette left across the street to her parents Bakery. She entered inside to greet her parents. Her mother was finishing up with a customer and turned to her daughter.

"How was school today, Marinette?"

"It was all right, the same as always," Marinette answered.

"Lots of homework?" Tom asked as he approached the bakery cash desk to greet his only child.

"Some, but I will survive."

Sabine smiled at her daughter. "I'll be up soon to start dinner, why don't you go upstairs and get a start on your homework?"

"You don't want any help today?" Marinette asked.

Sabine shook her head. "You're getting behind on school work again. I'd rather you go upstairs and get your homework done. Then you can enjoy your evening."

Marinette needed to catch up on her homework and so she smiled at her mother. Fighting Akuma was not helping her balance her school work at all and as long as an Akuma didn't decide to show up she could catch up on her school work that evening. She gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and left the shop and went upstairs. She hurried to her bedroom and put her book bag and her purse aside, unclasping it to let Tikki out.

Tikki zoomed about the room and took stretch her tiny limbs. Marinette giggled and took a seat at her desk, taking out her book for her homework. Tikki then landed on top of Marinette's desk and looked up at her Miraculous user with a smile. "Alya really is a good friend," Tikki stated. "She's always very worried about you."

Marinette agreed, but she looked at Tikki with some concern. "She really is, but if she keeps this up, she's gonna figure out something. Either about Adrien's secret, or my secret."

"I know it's hard to lie to your best friend," Tikki explained. "But we can't risk Hawkmoth finding out. Some of my past Ladybug's were out in the open, but it was safe for them to be out in the open."

Marinette nodded and sighed as she opened up her French Grammar book. Tikki curled up in a little blanket seat that Marinette made for her while Marinette was working and was taking a quick nap. Marinette put on some earphones and worked away.

Marinette only came back to reality when she heard her trap door to her bedroom open and her mother peeked her head up. Marinette took her earphones out and looked back at her. "Is dinner ready?"

"In ten minutes," Sabine stated. "Giving you a heads up so you can come down."

"Thanks, mom," Marinette stated.

Sabine disappeared again and Marinette stood from her desk. Marinette stretched and removed her sweater and placed the sweater on the back of her chair. Marinette glanced up to the window by her bed, but stopped when she noticed the window had been blocked by something. Marinette climbed up her ladder to see what the object was and realized the object was a paper bag. Marinette climbed up on her bed and pushed the window open, reaching up and bringing the bag down. The bag made crinkling sounds as she brought it down, but she took a seat down on her bed and looked inside.

Tikki's attention were drawn to the bag and zoomed over and gasped. "Marinette, that's your jacket!"

"Y-yeah," Marinette stated. Her cheeks burned when she realized Adrien had stopped by again at some unknown point to return her jacket. The bag wasn't that cold, so it had to have been delivered recently. She pulled the jacket out and noticed that there was a card inside. Her cheeks reddened, and she opened the card to look at it.

 _Marinette,_

 _I want to thank you for the warm jacket the other night. It kept me warm and dry. I let it hang overnight and returned it after school today. I appreciate you letting me borrow it, and I hope to be able to repay the favor someday. I am glad to know you don't hate me, and we can take the time to become friends, an option I didn't realize that option was available to me until yesterday. Please contact me anytime. Enclosed below is my phone number. I hope you contact me soon._

 _-Adrien_

Marinette could hear Tikki squealing when she finished reading the card. Marinette closed the card and put it on top of the jacket and put the jacket on her bed. She blushed but had a time processing what the card had said to her. She didn't understand. Adrien never seemed that interested in being her friend until she had found out he was Chat Noir, and now he was being nice to her. It was something she always wanted to happen. Have him want to be her friend, so they could get to know each other and maybe she could tell him how she felt and then perhaps even more unlikely, he would fall for her. She pushed such a thought aside and sighed. That would never happen.

"Marinette, he wants to hang out!" Tikki cried. "That's fantastic! If you get a chance to talk to him, you can become friends, and then you can tell him the truth! It will be such a relief to him!"

"Yeah," Marinette stated, sighing. "It will be nice for him, but I don't think he'll like me much. I mean...compared to Ladybug."

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng," Tikki scolded. The stare the little Kwami was giving Marinette reminded her of her mother when she was angry with Marinette. She looked down at her lap and the all to familiar pain in her chest returned. Tikki floated into Marinette's eye line again and using her tiny paw, drew Marinette to meet her gaze. "Ladybug and you are the same and you are an incredibly interesting person. He really wants to get to know you. Enjoy your dinner and then you're gonna call him."

"B-But-"

"Not buts," Tikki said. "Call him, just talk. I am respectful that you aren't ready to tell him you're Ladybug right now, but if you don't do this, I will call him myself."

"T-Tikki!" Marinette cried.

The little Kwami was smiling. "I can be wicked when I want to be. And I know you can do this. And I'm sure he will like you, even as much as he likes Ladybug."

Marinette couldn't bring herself to say anymore than she had. She sighed and then stood to her feet. "Mom will be wondering where I am for dinner."

Tikki nodded and watched as Marinette climbed down the ladder and disappeared down into the trapdoor into the kitchen. Downstairs Marinette's nerves were getting the better of her and she couldn't bring herself to eat as much as she could have liked too, but the butterflies in her stomach were single-handedly destroying any appetite she may have had. She ate enough that her parents didn't seem to notice how little she actually wanted to eat. She excused herself to her room to finish up some homework. When she entered her room once again, she saw Tikki sitting on her bed near where she tossed her cellphone aside. Tikki gave her an encouraging smile, but she didn't feel as confident as Tikki thought she should be. She climbed up her ladder and took a seat beside Tikki. Tikki offered her the card, Marinette assumed to look at the phone number. Marinette shook her head. "I already have his number," she stated.

Tikki nodded. "I kind of forgot about that."

Marinette took in a deep breath and lifted the phone up, and clicked through her contacts, and stopped on Adrien. She breathed out as she pressed on his name and lifted the phone up to her ear. It rang once, twice, three time, and before the fourth there was a click. "Hello?"

Marinette's entire body went stiff when she heard his voice. "H-Hello, Adrien? I-It's Mari-"

"Marinette! Hi!" his voice said, a hint of cheerfulness was present.

She almost dropped the phone upon hearing his voice greeting her with what sounded like excitement. She caught it and lifted it up to her ear once again. "H-Hey!" she greeted again.

"You got your jacket back safely I assume?" he asked.

"O-Of course," she said. "I appreciate it. Thank you."

"Thank you for lending it to me yesterday. It was super warm and did the job until I got home," he stated.

She blushed. "Y-Yeah, I'm glad it kept you w-warm. It must...get cold out sometime...in, you know, your, costume."

"Yeah, it can, but it's not as cold as it looks. Superpowers and all..." he said trailing off. He changed the subject away from his secret identity. "But that jacket! It is really, really great quality. Kept me warm, but also dry. I'm very impressed, Marinette."

Marinette's eyes went wide, and she froze. She forgot to both breath and answer him. He just complimented her design. Not only that, but it just dawned on her that he had to worn one of her designs, and he liked it, by the sounds of it, a lot too. He continued when she didn't reply. "You really do have a great eye for detail. I'm sure we'll be all hearing about your own clothing line in the future."

"You...I mean, you thank. THANK YOU," she sputtered out. "T-thank you."

"I'm sorry, I'm not embarrassing you, am I?"

"A...little," she whispered.

"Have I possibly seen any of your other designs before?" he asked. "Besides the jacket and the Bowler hat contest."

Marinette looked down at a few of her items around her bedroom and stopped at her person items, including her current outfit. "A fair bit...actually."

"Really?!" he said excitedly. "Like what?"

"The clothes I was wearing today," she replied.

"Yeah? What part? Was it the jacket?"

She felt her cheeks flush as she realized that he didn't quite understand what she meant. She opened her mouth and tried to find her words. "N-No," she said. "Its...the outfit. The...whole outfit." Her voice had gotten low as her heart rate increased.

"Everything! You made all of that. The shirt, jacket, pants?" he exclaimed.

She nodded, but then cursed herself because she knew he couldn't see her nodded and she struggled to find her voice again. "Yes..."

"You are seriously so talented," he stated.

Her cheeks only reddened more and her voice was even more lost to her. She glanced at Tikki who was listening to the call, eager for details. "Thanks." It was still low, and she wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear, but she still wanted to talk to him. She wanted to find her voice again. How often more would she get to ever talk to the boy of her dreams?

"Is there a way for me to see all of your designs?"

"I have an Instagram," she said. "Private one...only closest friends...can see it."

There was a pause. "Oh, all right then," he said.

Immediately she knew how he took it. She could hear the disappointment and she wanted to scream out loud for her foolishness. She jumped to her feet as if to protest in a room full of people. "Nononononononono!" she cried. "I didn't meant that!"

He was surprised. "No, its fine!"

"I want to show you," she said. "I want to be a designer...you work in the industry...any...feedback would be...appreciated."

Her words started out confidently, but as the words continued on, her self assurance of what she was saying faded away and she lifted her phone away from her ear. "One second." Marinette in a message to text to him and typed it out and sent him the link. She lifted her phone back to her ear. Marinette took in another deep breath. "A-Adrien, I texted you the address. S-Sent me an invitation and I'll accept you."

"Marinette...thank you," he replied. "That means a lot to me that you would trust me with the link."

Marinette wasn't sure if she could handle any more of a real conversation with him tonight. Her heart raced like it would stop at any moment so she tried to make an excuse. "I still have homework to do. So sent me an invite and accept it. See you...at school tomorrow?"

There was once again a little silence, but then he spoke, his voice seemed...happy. "Marinette, I won't keep you from homework, I have some left to do myself. Thank you, for trusting me. It means a lot to me."

She could have died at that moment. "Goodbye."

"Bye."

She hung up and when the line was disconnected, she tossed the phone away and grabbed her pillow. She took in a deep breath again, and brought the pillow up to her face, and pressed it into the pillow. Opening her mouth into the pillow she let out a scream.

8 8 8

Adrien hung up the phone and instantly there was a weight taken off his shoulders. While some worrying was still there, he knew there was a difference. He smiled as he looked at Plagg, who was eating some cheese and had seemed to pay no attention to the call. "I think that went good."

Plagg nodded and ate the last bite of his cheese. "See, nothing to worry about."

Adrien opened the link on his phone and noticed the Instagram invite. He accepted it and then closed his phone. Turning to his computer, deciding it would be better on his high end computer screens. He wanted to look at all the little details on her designs. He clicked through the designs, studying each one. Wile doing so, he noted that only three people followed the account. A thrilling feeling filled him as he realized that she actually meant only her closest friends followed her. Adrien knew that having the honour of seeing her designs like this had been an invite few others would get. So he looked through them with great interest.

The interest only got better until he came to one from last year. His eyes stopped as he stared at the scarf on his computer screen. Light blue in color, with beautiful tassels on the end. Adrien wasn't sure he was seeing things correctly and clicked into the next photo. Another angle of the scarf. The scarf still looked like the one he got from his father. He clicked on the next and a final one of the scarf. This picture had been taken from the strange angle. On the scarf was a clear hidden message, or rather a name, right in the scarf. The letters spelt Marinette. Just like her signature on the bowler hat. His mouth hung open. He looked down at the comment she posted about the photo.

 _Illusion Knitting! Such a beautiful technique! Using this trick, one can have hidden messages or images in ones knitted work. This was my first serious attempt at it and I am thrilled! I can't wait to give it to Adrien!_

Adrien jumped from his seat and ran to his closet and ripped the walk in closet apart until he found the scarf and brought it to his desk. Laying the scarf down across his desk and knelt down at the same angle Marinette took the picture from. This wasn't a mistake. She couldn't have made him the scarf, his father gave him as a gift. The most thoughtful gift he ever received since his mother disappeared. Yet there the scarf was, Marinette's name hidden into the scarf. He fell to his knees and looked at the floor. Adrien was a bag of mixed emotions running through him. While there was the hurt he felt at realizing that his father didn't get him the gift after all, there was some realization about Marinette. She had gotten him such a thoughtful gift, and he loved it. He wore it at school as often as possible, but yet she had said nothing. All this time, she had kept quiet. He proudly told everyone his father had designed it just for him.

"Plagg, Marinette made the scarf," he said.

Plagg hovered at the same angle and moved around, watching her name disappear and magically reappeared. "Whoa! That's cool! She did a great job!"

"B-But, I thought my dad made me this scarf? How could she have made it and not tell me?" Adrien cried.

"Well, the girl said she was too shy to tell you. Besides, it doesn't seem upset by it. Maybe she was just happy that you were happy," Plagg explained.

"Is that it?" Adrien asked. "Did she really not tell me because...I was happy my dad finally remembered and cared it was my birthday?"

Plagg was still playing with the disappearing trick the scarf gave off. "I don't care for human emotions much, but what about Ladybug? I mean, you love her."

"More than anything!" Adrien stated.

"Well, you had many chances to find out her identity," Plagg explained. "You didn't though. Because it means a lot to her that you don't pressure her to tell you who she is."

"I want her to tell me when she's ready," Adrien explained. "I want her to be happy."

"Now, I don't care for human emotions or whatever, but I guess it's like that," Plagg explained. He got bored with the scarf and instead laid on it and began to roll around on it.

Adrien nodded as he took in the information. "No, you're right. It is the same. She didn't want me to be unhappy."

Adrien took a stead back at his computer chair and flipped to the next photo. He chuckled when he noticed how tangled up Plagg was getting in the scarf. "Starting tomorrow, I'm gonna talk to Marinette at school. I'm gonna get to know her. The real her."

A/N: Illusion knitting is really neat. I'm learning it now myself. I really suggest you google it. It's so fun! Until next time guys!


End file.
